Developers, donations mingle in Lake Forest

Aug. 19, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 12:28 p.m.

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Developers Brookfield Residential and Trumark Co. have proposed building residential projects on the site of the empty Foothill Ranch auto mall in Lake Forest. ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, BY ISAAC ARJONILLA

Developers Brookfield Residential and Trumark Co. have proposed building residential projects on the site of the empty Foothill Ranch auto mall in Lake Forest. ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, BY ISAAC ARJONILLA

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The City Council on Tuesday is set to consider final approval of Brookfield's plan and to consider the Trumark project, which would put up 72 single-family homes adjacent to the 147 Brookfield condos. The meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 25550 Commercentre Drive.

LAKE FOREST – Two developers proposing to build homes on the site of a former auto mall gave thousands of dollars to political action committees that helped elect Lake Forest officials who are championing the projects.

In the months leading up to the November election, Brookfield Residential and Trumark Co. gave at least $75,000 to groups that spent heavily in favor of Dwight Robinson and Adam Nick. The developers also gave directly to Robinson and Councilman Scott Voigts. Brookfield and Trumark have been working hand in hand since 2010 to persuade the city to rezone about 16 acres of commercial land in Foothill Ranch to residential so they can fill it with housing.

Lake Forest does not have campaign contribution limits.

PAC SPENDING

In September, the Orange County Republican Party endorsed Robinson and Nick. In early October, Trumark and Brookfield gave $22,500 and $20,000, respectively, to the county GOP on consecutive days.

Later in the month, the GOP involved itself for the first time in Lake Forest politics, spending $21,906.76 to support Robinson and Nick and attack longtime Lake Forest Councilwoman Marcia Rudolph and candidate Terry Anderson.

Also in late October, Trumark sent $22,500 to Taxpayers for Safer Neighborhoods. In late October, the group spent $10,877.35 to support Robinson and Nick, while attacking Rudolph and Anderson.

In late October, California Taxpayers for Responsible Government received $5,000 from the Southern California chapter of the Building Industry Association, a lobbying organization. The BIA received $10,000 from Brookfield earlier that month; Mike Balsalmo, president of the BIA's Orange County chapter, has spoken at multiple city meetings in favor of the Trumark and Brookfield projects.

On Nov. 2, the Friday before the election, California Taxpayers for Responsible Government spent $6,189.93 for a mailer attacking Rudolph.

Voigts, who was elected to the council in 2010 and plans to run again in 2014, received $500 from the BIA during his 2010 campaign and $300 in January 2012. He also received $300 in August 2012 from Curt Pringle & Associates; $100 from the firm and $100 each from two vice presidents with the firm.

In December, Pringle appeared in a promotional video Brookfield published listing reasons Lake Forest should approve the developer's proposal. The video was shown at a Lake Forest Planning Commission meeting.

Also in August 2012, Voigts accepted $1,000 from Brookfield for his campaign for a seat on the county GOP's Central Committee.

DIRECT DONATIONS

Trumark and Brookfield also gave directly to officials. Robinson received $500 from Trumark in August. That same month Robinson received $2,500 from Rich Goacher, the owner of RGP Corp., a firm Trumark paid to lobby the city. Goacher, the firm's founder, died in June.

In January 2012, Trumark, using the name Foothill Village, the title under which it submitted its project to the city, put $2,500 into the campaign chest of Voigts. It also gave that amount to Rudolph, who was ousted in the November election. Those donations came after the developer submitted its formal proposal for 75 single-family homes. Brookfield gave $500 to Rudolph in August.

On consecutive days in October 2011, Trumark and Brookfield each gave Voigts $250. Goacher gave Voigts $2,800 in 2011 and $2,000 in 2010.

James O'Malley, who represented the Trumark project but no longer works for the firm, did not respond to requests for comment.

Brookfield executive Dave Bartlett would not comment on contributions by Brookfield to the county GOP or the BIA.

“I don't live in Lake Forest. I'm not a voter in Lake Forest,” Bartlett said. “People that are registered voters in Lake Forest voted for the people who sit up on that dais. I have no other comment on that.”

Of seven candidates, Nick, a virtual unknown in Lake Forest politics, finished first in November's election with 10,279 votes. Robinson placed second with 9,381.

CONTENTIOUS PROJECTS

The Brookfield and Trumark projects have become the center of a political battle that observers say is changing the nature of the city's governance.

“Quite frankly, the 2012 campaign set a new bar,” Councilman Peter Herzog said in July. “What occurred in the 2012 election had never been seen in Lake Forest on many fronts.”

He said the involvement of political action committees contributed to an “astronomical” increase in spending and was akin to the politicking in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

At Robinson and Nick's December swearing-in, O'Malley was in the audience, though no items on the agenda were related to development. Fewer than 30 minutes after Robinson took the oath, he listed the Brookfield and Trumark proposals among his top priorities.

At the council's next meeting, Bartlett and O'Malley requested the city remove a requirement for an independent market study that would have analyzed the effect of potential commercial uses under the auto mall site's existing zoning.

The study's cost was estimated at $25,000, which the developers had agreed to share. A contract was signed in September 2012 with a firm to do the study, but the developers never gave the city the go-ahead, city staffers said.

The issue was dormant until December, when the developers asked the council – now with Robinson and Nick on it – to eliminate the requirement.

In February, Voigts, Robinson and Nick voted to overturn the independent study requirement.

“As a businessperson, I'm constantly looking at how I'm spending my dollars, making sure that I'm doing it wisely,” Robinson said. “My own personal business is constantly being affected by government regulations and fees I have to pay.”

Nick said the study would be a “waste of money” and “prolong the process needlessly.”

McCullough and Herzog opposed the decision.

The council July 30 voted 3-2 to change the zoning and approve the Brookfield project, though the Planning Commission recommended against the project, citing concerns about traffic and the project's proposed density.

Two planning commissioners – Andrew Hamilton and C.J. Brower – supported Brookfield's project. The two were appointed in January by Robinson, Nick and Voigts. Councilwoman Kathryn McCullough also supported Brower.

INFLUENCE DENIED

Voigts did not return requests for comment by deadline.

Robinson said the money he received from the developers had no affect on how he votes on their projects.

“When it comes to me, that has no bearing,” he said.

Robinson said the Brookfield project is aligned with the issues he brought up in the 2012 election, including job creation.

“Overwhelmingly, the businesses in Foothill Ranch supported the Brookfield project and that weighed heavily on my decision,” he said. “It will help stimulate the economy in the Towne Centre area and the surrounding areas.”

Nick pointed out that he did not accept campaign donations from businesses. Neither developer offered monetary support to his campaign, he said.

“Maybe that was because I made known early on before I even met them for the first time that I would not receive campaign contributions from profit-seeking companies,” he said.

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